Only Each Other
by Geezworld234
Summary: Set after 'A Death in the Family'. Sandra and Gerry have noticed a dramatic change in Brian since Jack's sunnden departure, can they work together to save him from himself? Written with Bethyboo97, sdbubbles, TeamNewTricks.
1. Worried

_**Disclaimer: We do not own New Tricks! Enjoy**_

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Sandra rolled over. She had only been in bed for half an hour but knew that there was no chance of getting any sleep at all that night. She was worried about Brain, he hadn't been the same since Jack's sudden and suspicious departure.

She knew he knew more than he was prepared to say. She was worried about Jack even more, he was the one behaving out of character, ever since he had left the pub and gotten on that plane to France he hadn't been in contact, not even a quick text to say that he had arrived safely. That wasn't not like Jack Halford at all. It was odd how he had upped sticks and left, all in a day without properly saying goodbye to the team not even giving them a real reason why he had decided to leave and now Brian was becoming paranoid every time Jack's name was spoken.

Sandra knew something was bothering Brain, he was behaving in the same way he had done when he had relapsed before. Her gut feeling told her Jack had confided in Brian about the real reason why he had left UCOS and retired for good and Brian Lane was now battling with his conscience, not knowing if he should keep his promise to Jack or tell her and Gerry the truth as they both had told Brian that they were worried.

Sandra didn't know what to do, she knew if she mentioned something to Esther about Brian's behavior the Brain would never trust her again and there was no way of getting into contact with Jack as he clearly did not want anything more to do with them.

Gerry was the only person left she could really talk to about it, knowing he had a date tonight and did not want to ruin his evening by ringing him she sent him a text:

"Gerry,

would it be possible if you came into work early tomorrow, I want to talk to you about Brian, I am worried,

Cheers, Sandra x"

There was nothing more she could do at this moment in time so she thought she might as well try sleeping again.

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_**Geezworld234, BethyBoo97, sdbubbles and TeamNewTricks :) xx**_


	2. We Need to Talk about Brian

She tossed and turned for a while before finally falling asleep, it wasn't a peaceful sleep though. When she awoke at 6, she woke to find her pillow soaking with tears and her eyes red from crying. She'd had a dream during the night about Jack and all the possibilities as to why he left so suddenly and why Brian was like he was. Sleepily she felt around for her phone and found it on her bedside cabinet, she picked it up to find a text from Gerry.

"Sure Sandra, I'm just getting ready I'll be there in about half an hour.

See you soon, Gerry x'

From the text she could tell he was just as worried as she was, she looked at the time on her phone, realising Gerry sent that text 15 minutes before she read it she decided it was probably best she got out of bed now.

"Might be a bit late, I just woke up. I'll be there as soon as I can.

Sandra x"

Putting the phone down on her bed she decided she had no time to shower, she'd had one the night before anyway. She opened her wardrobe and pulled out a cream low cut top and a knee length skirt which she teamed with some black knee length boots. Next she walked into the bathroom and quickly applied a small amount of make-up to her face and ran a brush through her hair. Now she was ready to go.

"On my way now. x" Sandra text Gerry as she got into the car.

"God, you take ages to get ready ;) Anyway don't be too long the kettles just boiled. x"

She decided not to reply to his last text and drive to the office instead.

It took her 10 minutes to get to the office, when she walked into the UCOS office she noticed Gerry had done a bit to tidying. The time on the clock read 7' o clock, they had two hours before Brian was due to show up at work, plenty of time to talk.

"Morning guv." Gerry said brightly as he handed her a freshly made mug of coffee.

"Morning Gerry." She replied as she took the coffee. "Come sit in my office, as I said in my text we need to talk about Brian, I'm worried about him."

"Me too."

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_**Hope it is still okay Geezworld234, BethyBoo97, sdbubbles and TeamNewTricks :) xx**_


	3. What do we do Gerry?

Gerry positioned himself in the chair opposite Sandra's, leaning on her desk. This in itself spoke volumes to Sandra, he was normally slouched back and relaxed, he genuinely was worried too.

"Do you have any idea what's up with him?" Sandra questioned Gerry. She knew that sometimes the boys didn't tell her everything, after all she is the Guv and they know how she can get stressed out about her work.

"Don't you think I'd have told you if I did Sandra? He hasn't said anything to me at all." Sandra knew that despite Gerry's slightly hostile tone he wasn't attacking her personally, just the situation they were in.

"I know, but I have to ask. This must have something to do with Jack, there's no other explanation I can think of as to why he's suddenly behaving oddly, well more than usual."

"Every time we mention him, just wondering how he's getting on he goes all quiet and awkward. He must know something about why Jack retired so suddenly."

Sandra nodded in agreement, it was exactly what she had thought last night when she couldn't sleep. Despite how her and Gerry seemed to disagree constantly at work, they did agree on the important things.

Gerry could see the sadness in Sandra's eyes, they looked sore and red; he couldn't make out whether this was just because she was tired or whether she had been crying.

"Never mind about Brian, Sandra, how are you coping?" the delicacy of Gerry's voice startled her a little, it wasn't how he normally spoke to her.

She could tell that Gerry had noticed that she wasn't her normal self. She knew that he would notice; out of the three of her boys Gerry did seem to be the best at picking up on her feelings.

"I'm fine," she replied a little too quickly, and knew instantly that it wasn't going to convince Gerry.

"Sandra" he spoke sternly as he stared into her eyes.

No matter how hard she tried to hold it together, she knew it was no good. She felt a tear slip from her eye and wiped it as soon as it appeared.

"I told you I'm fine Gerry." Sandra's voice told Gerry that he was on thin ice now. But that's what you do when you're friends with someone, you tread on that ice.

"Yeah, course you are," he replied sarcastically, "You are allowed to be upset Sandra. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone!" He joked, and smiled to see that it had briefly made Sandra smile too.

"It's just.." she paused not sure whether she should admit her feelings, she was normally so good at keeping them bottled up.

"Yes" Gerry encouraged.

"It's like losing my dad all over again. I know he wasn't my dad, and that no one could ever replace him, but he has been my father figure for so long now, and I miss him." Sandra felt the tears stream down her face as she revealed how she really felt.

Gerry took hold of Sandra's hands and stroked them gently. "It's ok, you let it out."

"I'm sorry."

"What for?" Gerry really was confused as to what she felt she had to be sorry about.

"For crying in front of you. For being silly."

"Hey, you're not being silly." He leaned closer and wiped the hair out of her eyes. She'd have normally slapped him, but she was grateful to have somebody there for her. "And you can cry in front of me as much as you want. Well actually no, I don't want to see you cry again. I want to see you smile. I don't want you to be upset." He'd give anything just for Sandra to be wearing that gorgeous smile of hers again, but he knew that Jack's departure was tough on her.

"Anyway Gerry, what are we going to do about Brian?"

"I think we should talk to Esther, see if she knows anything."

"Well won't she then tell Brian, and then he really won't trust us?"

"Surely not. Anyway, we need to make sure that she looks out for whether he's drinking again, we can't watch him 24/7."

"Yeah you're right. Shall we go this afternoon, before he gets home?"

"Yeah, you better ring Esther."

"Yeah I will do." It was then she realised that her hands were still encased in Gerry's. "Thank you. You know, for coming in early, and for listening to me, it's the first time I've been able to speak about Jack properly."

"Anytime," Gerry stoked her hand gently before deciding that he probably better let her have them back. He got up slowly from his chair and looked down at his Guv, she still looked worried, but there was a slight weight had been lifted off her shoulder. "Another coffee?"

She smiled up at him, "Yes please!"

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_**Hope it was okay, feel free to let us know what you think! :) x**_


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